He
was born
in Paris in 1849 to parents who were both artists. his mother was a
miniaturist
of some note. He began his his more formal art studies under Cabanel
and
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at age 17 and in 1874 (the year that John
Singer
Sargent arrived in Paris to study) Besnard was awarded the Grand Prix
of
Rome.

Prior
to 1880
he was mostly an academic artist, but then he hooked up Ernest
Duez
and Sargent who were greatly influenced by the
impressionist
and the tonal style of Carolus-Duran. Madame
Roger
Jourdain was in this group of artists and friends during this
time.
Between 1881-1884, Besnard exhibited at the Royal Academy in
London.
In 1889, Besnard's "Woman Warming Herself By the Fire" was exhibited
and
is now in the Musee d'Art Moderne.

John
Singer SargentThe Birthday (Fête Familiale)1887
(painting of artist Besnard with family )

Besnard
went
on to a successful career and was appointed Member of the Academy des
Beaux-Arts,
the Acadamie Francaise, Grand-Croix de la Legion d'Honneaur, Director
of
the Villa Medici at Rome and the Director of the Ecole Beaux-Arts.

As
a decorative
artist he worked on a large scale, such as his frescoes at the
Sorbonne,
the Ecole de Pharmacie, the Salle des Sciences at the htel de ville,
the
maine of the first arrondissement, and the chapel of Berck hospital,
for
which he painted twelve Stations of the Cross in an entirely modern
spirit. (www.annalies.com) (1911encyclopedia.org)